A man's beard and a woman's long hair are sacred symbols to the Amish, and prosecutors argued that Bishop Samuel Mullet ordered the attacks as revenge against perceived religious enemies. US Attorney Steven Dettelbach that made them hate crimes.
"Our community and our nation must have zero tolerance for this type of intolerance," Dettelbach said. "Whether the target is a black church, or a mosque, or a temple or a Sikh place of worship, whether it is the long sideburns of a religious Jewish person or the long and sacred beard of an Amish person, religiously motivated violence will not be brushed aside. It will not be minimized."
The defense framed the attacks as little more than personal disputes. After three weeks of testimony, it took the jury almost five days to come to a decision. Stu Smith of Ashtabula County says he and his fellow jurors had some intense discussions.
"Many of the conversations were about the difficulty of separating personal and religious aspects of the trial," he said. "Those questions, I think, were the most difficult."
The defense has indicated that it plans to appeal the convictions, and Case Western Reserve University Law professor Jonathan Entin thinks they might have a chance, because this was a case of Amish attacking Amish.
"The defendants upon appeal are likely to say that this case should have never gone to the jury," says Entin, "because the statute doesn't cover this kind of intra-group dispute."
As it stands, the defendants could be facing some lengthy prison terms --- in Samuel Mullet's case it might be life behind bars. Judge Dan Polster has scheduled sentencing for Jan. 24.
